Get Ready for Free Tax-Prep Software That Actually Works
The Web era's "everything-as-ad-supported-medium" business ethic has found an odd new niche: business accounting software. Never mind that excellent business ledger tools are cheap. Intuit and Outright, both based in Mountain View, Calif., and Vancouver's Kashoo offer powerful accounting tools for about $10 a month.
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In these Web free-to-all days, sophisticated ledger-management payment and bank reconciliation software packages -- the once-for-enterprise-only stuff of ADP, NetSuite or Peachtree by Sage -- are now ad-supported Web services that are totally free.
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That is correct: When it comes to business accounting, free is the new black.
No-cost services are flourishing. Toronto-based Wave Accounting claims it has managed a combined $20 billion in expenses and income since it launched in mid-2010.
"We are currently signing up tens of thousands of small businesses every month," says Rob Maurin, vice president for community content and communications at the company.
To get a feel for how real, really free accounting tools are, I gave Wave a solid once-over this tax season. My takeaway: It is by no means perfect -- and the issue of privacy needs to be carefully considered. Still, I am seriously considering migrating my own business to Wave.
Here's why:
1. Free accounting tools work.
I was immediately impressed by Wave. Signup takes, no kidding, 12 seconds. I timed it. Just log in and get a free account. Try that with Intuit's QuickBooks. ( Use a stout password, please -- this is important information you don't want stolen.) In an instant, before you are all the graphs, ledgers and accounting tools you need to keep your business on the right side of the IRS.